


beauty and the crew member

by awkwardcarmine



Category: Nick & Nickie, Original Work
Genre: Coming Out, Cute, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, High School AU, Lesbian Character, Theater AU, butch lesbian character, femme lesbian character, lesbian hijinks, transgender character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 08:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14808213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awkwardcarmine/pseuds/awkwardcarmine
Summary: high school/theatre au with my two characters, nickie novak and reina gomez, in which the two are working on a production of “annie” for their school.





	beauty and the crew member

**Author's Note:**

> nickie novak: big ole lesbian body builder who has a knack for art and being very angry  
> reina “queenie” gomez: a thespian lesbian who cares a lot and enjoys being a star

It was an absolute ride, being in Ligonier High’s musical production. Nickie was the ‘vice’ head of the crew and Reina, or “Queenie” as her friends called her, was the star of the show. Nickie may have been just a tad jealous, but upon seeing Queenie with her hair done up and trying on the costumes for the first time, her jealousy subsided into infatuation.

The first time the Cupid cat had got her tongue was when she was staying after practice a bit more to finish up the set for the last scene of the play. Her hands were covered in crusty, multicolor spots and she was nearly done painting the office scene. She was so absorbed in her work that she didn’t even notice the darling star of the show walk to the other side of the wood piece until she actually spoke up.

“You almost done? You must be tired,” Queenie said, admiring the handiwork of the girl in front of her.

“Oh, uh, I’m good… Drank a lot of coffee and I’ve got caffeine pills too,” Nickie replied, ducking her head even further to hide the blush she had.

“That stuff isn't good for you, you know,” Queenie scoffed, silently afraid of her newfound friend getting dependant on that junk.

“I’ve gone through surgeries that required near horse-tranquilizers. I think I can withstand the effects of evil caffeine pills,” Nickie answered mocking the girl before her in a very high, squeaky voice.

“Dios mío, that’s insane,” Queenie gasped, a bit shocked by the sudden reveal of personal information.

“It’s fine, Queenie. I’ve been through Hell and this godforsaken place, only thing that could be worse than that is chemicals turning the frogs gay,” Nickie monologued, continuing to paint floral accents on the set.

“Chemicals? Turning the frogs gay? What?” Queenie questioned, genuinely intrigued.

“It’s some stupid conspiracy. I’ll have to show you the video later. You’d probably get a kick out of it.” Nickie grabbed some more paint from her palette.

“What about you text it to me? I can give you my number,” Queenie asked as she motioned to Nickie to grab her phone.

“Uh, my hands are kinda full here buckaroo. Fish it out of my back pocket and I’ll give you the passcode. Just don’t tell anyone else or I will be forced to use my laser eyes on you,” Nickie joked and laughed, causing the girl in front of her to giggle too.

Queenie went over behind Nickie and tried to find her phone. Backpocket. In a backpocket. Queenie did not want to be this close to a practical stranger’s butt, but she wouldn’t complain about it. She’d heard rumors about Nickie being a valuable member of the weightlifting club and, uh, looks like she didn’t skip leg/butt day often.

As Queenie pulled up Nickie’s flannel, she hurried up and grabbed the girl’s phone then slunk back to her position behind the set. Queenie looked up expectantly as she pulled up the passcode screen and Nickie told her the code: “123258.” Going into her contacts, she couldn’t help but notice the goofy names she had for her friends. Her two favorites were probably “Thiccy Mcgee” and “dumb stupid asshole brother.” She quickly entered the information as Nickie got up to wash herself off in one of the nearby science wing’s industrial sinks.

Now was the opportunity to hack her Snapchat and sift through her information like a creep. Queenie added herself to Nickie’s friends on Snapchat, took a killer selfie, and started looking through the girl’s photos like a giant, creepy bitch. There were many, many selfies of the girl in the recognizable Ligonier Weightlifting Complex, which was nearly adjacent to the school. Oh boy, this wasn’t helping Queenie’s small crush on this girl. But thank god for Nickie’s extensive closet of booty shorts. Queenie could die a happy lesbian.

“Hey, can I get my phone back? I kinda next to text my brother to get his ass out here to pick me up,” Nickie asked, holding out her hand.

“Oh, yeah! Sorry,” Queenie handed the phone back, “I could always take you home if you like.”

Now it was Nickie’s turn to be flustered, “If I won’t be intruding, I guess I could take that.”

“Cool. Let’s scram. I’m getting sick of this dumb school,” Queenie started walking towards the big double doors, “Maybe sometime we can go to the gym together.”

~~

After a relatively short ride, Nickie was dropped off at home and Queenie was now sitting in her driveway. She was being existential as all hell. Did she really have a crush on this girl? The one who could pick her up like a piece of tissue and possibly rip her in half like one? Maybe. Maybe Nickie was interested in her too? She doesn’t exactly seem very… straight. If her brother was of any indication, she was probably as straight as a bendy ruler. Whatever. Maybe this’ll just go away in a week, or after the production is over. Queenie shook her head, this was too much thinking. She stepped out of the car and promptly went to bed.

~~

It was nearing the last batch of rehearsals and everyone was getting antsy. Nickie was relatively stable headed, until someone managed to knock her ass into the background when they were all swarming to change props. It was kind of terrifying to have the nearly 6 foot girl screaming at you, but luckily some of her friends managed to lasso her backstage to get her to cool off. Queenie excused herself promptly during a scene in which she wasn’t needed and walked back, finding her friend sweaty and beet-red in the face.

“You doing ok?” she asked, timidly putting her hand over Nickie’s larger, clenched fist.

“Yeah. Temper got the best of me and I just couldn’t control it. I hate it when this shit happens,” Nickie mumbled, grabbing the water bottle sitting beside her and drank the rest of it — then promptly crushed it on her forehead and tossed it into the trash can.

“Do you need me to do anything? I don’t like seeing anyone on my crew mad at each other,” Queenie triumphantly stated, trying to look Nickie straight in the eye and failing miserably.

“Just tell Johnson that I was being shitty and it wasn’t their fault. Tell them I’ll apologize to them later in person after we finish up,” Nickie replied, thankful for Queenie being so helpful.

“Will do. Now let’s go, we need to keep this boat afloat my gal,” Queenie joked, giggling lightly and making Nickie’s heart flutter. Damn this girl and her cute ass laugh.

~~

Later, as Queenie was waiting for Nickie to finish up, she heard Nickie talking to someone else. She guessed it was the Johnson kid, due to Nickie acting uncharacteristically embarrassed. Luckily, the person seemed to be taking it well and with no hard feelings. They even ended up accepting Nickie’s handshake with a hug instead, startling the larger girl who accepted it still. Queenie felt her heart pang, not in actual pain but something more foreign to her. She didn’t understand, but that didn’t stop her from smiling to Johnson on the way out and accompanying Nickie to her car.

~~

Opening night. Stressful. As. Fuck. Queenie was a stressed mess, alongside the rest of the cast. Everyone was extremely jumpy and even the smallest of inconveniences scared the shit out of them. They were a mess, alright. Meanwhile, most of the crew was way back, waiting for the production to go underway. One of the kids decided to bring their dumbass vape pen with them that smelled like coffee and subsequently pissed off Nickie, who was already on edge. Said kid got the message when Nickie snapped one of the pencils that was strewn about the backstage. Before long, though, it was on. The crew kids were hustling and bustling, trying to get every little detail right in this production. Ligonier was known for their stellar performances and this wouldn’t be an exception. Nickie was already bruised around the shins already by only the third scene change and she knew this was going to be the case for the next three days.

Around halftime, everyone came together to discuss the rest of the night. Queenie just happened to be able to drift over to Nickie and gave her a pat on the back, and consequently noticed how good she looked while she was sweaty as hell. Maybe that crush wasn’t just infatuation When the meeting wrapped up, Nickie must have been operating semi-consciously because she placed a kiss on Queenie’s curled hair then walked back to her position. Oh shit. Does she like me? Now was not the time to be a useless lesbian, she had to act! Which may be a bit harder now when her crush had just gave her some romantic gesture. Fuck.

~~

It was finally the end of the show when everyone came out and was congratulated on their efforts, including the stage crew. This time around, though, they decided to let the heads of both stage crew and actors come out. By howdy they did. Nickie, in all of her sweaty glory, clasped hands with Queenie in an unknowingly sweet gesture and stomped out to the front of the stage with her, practically high on adrenaline. The two were riding out their waves, even until they finally got back to the car.

“Was… Was that kiss actually something?” Queenie asked, nervously prodding at a subject she knew she didn’t exactly want to.

“Would you laugh at me if it was?” Nickie replied, keeping her eyes glued to her hands on her lap.

“What would you do if I told you I was a lesbian?” Queenie came back, tossing a question at a question as she held onto her steering wheel like it would give her some sort of security.

Unexpectedly, she felt an arm, a strong arm, place itself across her shoulders in an attempt to pull her closer to its own. Over the gear shift, Nickie placed her head on Queenie’s tense shoulders and tried to get her to loosen up.

“I’d say that I’m one too. And I think I’m in love with you,” Nickie whispered, blushing so hard she hoped that Queenie couldn’t feel it against her shoulder.

Queenie couldn’t help the happy tears that rolled down her face, even if it smeared the expensive makeup that she had gotten specifically for this. She moved Nickie’s arm and looked right in her eyes with a smile that could set the sun to shame. Nickie looked right back, feeling her heart burn with an inhuman passion and went for it. She placed her hesitant lips over Queenie’s and placed her arms back, barely knowing what to do. Queenie tried to be a guide and hold Nickie’s hand through this whole new thing, but it wasn’t gonna work. So she just let it happen – teeth clacking and spit everywhere. It was sweet and nervous. Both couldn’t believe that this was happening, but it was.

After they were heaving for air, the two just looked at each other in awe. The dim lights from the parking lot accentuated the exhilaration, nervousness, and every other emotion hidden on their faces. They leaned forward again, not for a kiss, but for an embrace. Just to feel each other.

“Would you like to be my girlfriend, Nickie?” Queenie asked, stuttering uncharacteristically.

“Yes, I’d love to baby,” Nickie replied, already sprinkling in pet names like the sappy moron she was.

~~

On closing night, everyone was out of their nerves and were now sober anytime they went on stage. It sailed by smoothly, and without Nickie and the test of the stage crew having bruised ankles. When it was time for the heads of the groups, Nickie was planning something. Instead of Queenie grabbing for her hand, Nickie picked her up bridal style and carried her out, much to the delight of everyone else in the auditorium. They didn’t kiss, not yet, but cheered loudly with everyone else as the end of the production went through. There was still the afterparty, and the two planned on telling a few of their friends about what conspired between them.

Johnson seemed to be ecstatic about it, while Baz and Pony, Nickie and Queenie’s respective backup dancer friends, confessed to having placed bets on who asked who out and Pony had gotten $50 richer. Simon, Nickie’s friend in weightlifting, wished them the best and told Nickie to try some mouth exercises she’d seen on the internet once. Later, when it was 1 a.m. and nearly everyone had left, they’d finally approached their theatre teacher, Mr. Wallace (or Nathan, as he told them to call him). Knowing he was actually married to Mr. Smithing, the science teacher, they predicted he would freak out. He did, and congratulated the two on finally getting together. He said he had “gay’s intuition,” and could practically see the two’s connection when he saw them together. With a huge flourish of congrats from him, the two parted to the car. When they got in, they stared at one another for a good while until finally attacking each other with kisses and praise. They were delusional, mostly from lack of sleep, so after they finished up, Queenie said that she’d just let Nickie stay over with her. It wasn’t exactly forbidden, since they were dating after all.

After pulling into the driveway and stumbling upstairs, the two crawled into bed nearly naked. Probably because of the fact that Nickie had no other clothes aside from the sweat-soaked “THEATRE CREW” t-shirt and a pair of gym joggers and Queenie didn’t feel like trying to open her closet. They fell asleep in each other’s arms, happily snoozing away and dreaming about the lights and the thrill of performing.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! please, send any constructive criticism my way or just simply a comment about what you liked or somethingg!!


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